Hanoi weather - best time to vist

Hanoi experiences four distinct seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. And each season brings its own beauty. It can get horribly cold and misty in winter, scorching hot in summer, with some unpredictable months in between.

Spring

There’s no better word to describe spring in Hanoi. From February to April, springtime brings light drizzles and grey sky with air heavy with humidity, while the monsoon starts its heavy downpour in May. Temperature ranges from 15 to 20 degrees Celcius, and the constant drizzling turns the city’s dress code from winter coats to rain coats. But there’s no need to be gloomed out by the grey, springtime’s damp weather creates superb conditions for the flowers to blossom, so expect to see bright, colourful flowers everywhere around in spring!

Summer

Hanoi’s summer lasts from June to August and it can get very, very hot. It is humid and sticky, so bring clothes that are light, breathable and sweat-absorbent to beat the heat. Based on the uncomfortable weather conditions, summer seems to be the hardest season for tourists to travel to Hanoi.

However, Hanoi in summer is colorful with many kinds of flower. White Madonna lily on April, red flamboyant and violet Lagerstroemia speciosa (Bang Lang flower) on May, and West Lake lotus on June will attract people to take photos. Summer is a season of variety of fruits in the north of Vietnam. And you can taste them in the capital of Hanoi, such as: grapefruit, litchi, mango, watermelon, pineapple…

Autumn

Autumn is the most wonderful time of the year and Hanoi is the most romantic place of Vietnam. That’s a great combination which is not only for lovers but also for those who want to find inner peace. Autumn in Hanoi begins when people can feel the smell of alstonia scholaris (that means milk flowers) in the streets at cool nights and it lasts from September to November before getting cold. You can see the many yellow and red leaf trees along the streets, the sky is bluer, and the water in many lakes of Hanoi is greener.

It is also good time to enjoy the mid-autumn festival, one of the biggest festivals each year in Vietnam celebrated on the lunar August, 15th. Besides milk flowers with special smell, daisy is an autumn’s specific flower, along with Cốm (green rice flakes) – a specialty of Hanoi in this season.

Winter

Winter often brings a sad feeling, because the sky is often dark and gloomy. However, Hanoi seems to have its busiest days of the year and streets are more crowded than usual during working hours as people are in rush to complete all the remaining works and prepare for Tet holiday. The cold weather enables people living in Hanoi or visitors to enjoy the tasty hot food like hotpot or grill dishes.